


two bright flames

by quincycarter



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Bullying, F/F, Multiplicity/Plurality, OSDD, OSDD-1B, Other, idk what to tag :/, jake hollis and mama are also there but theyre minor characters its really just these three, thats really all in the past but its like referenced a couple times, uhhhh idk have fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21614035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quincycarter/pseuds/quincycarter
Summary: Aubrey Little falls in love with Dani, but struggles with a secret about herself.Danbrey with a twist! Please read the author's note on chapter one!Wattpad Link: https://www.wattpad.com/804519430-two-bright-flames-author%27s-notePlaylist Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhSNyz5cDaM&list=PL8lWx84H9CAzF9wI76VidC4XalvMU6HP3
Relationships: Dani/Aubrey Little, Sylvain & Aubrey Little, Sylvain/Dani, Sylvain/Dani/Aubrey Little
Comments: 15
Kudos: 39





	1. when everything was new

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys, Quincy here. (I'm typing in a more professional style so as not to ward off newbies, it's as jarring to me as it is to you.)
> 
> So, there's something about me that hasn't really come up before now, but it feels relevant with this story: I host an OSDD-1b system.
> 
> What does this mean? Well, it means that I have, in layman's terms, a large handful of fully-formed people sharing my body like it's a fuckin' rental car. Luckily, we don't forget what the others do (a key difference between OSDD-1b and DID is that OSDD-1b lacks dissociative amnesia), but we do still have some... Inconvenient habits. For instance, Quinn's writing style is so unlike mine that we've never posted any of her writing, even though it makes up about a third of our portfolio, and August and Tadeo's voices are so unlike mine that, for a while, they weren't allowed to front (control our body) for a solid month or so.
> 
> But why am I telling you this? Well, because it's essential information for the story ahead of you. I wrote it because I'm sick of not having anybody to relate to in media, and Aubrey Little swooped in and changed that by (spoiler alert) hosting the literal spirit of Sylvain in her body.
> 
> That was crazy, right? Can we talk about how crazy that was?
> 
> But, seriously. 
> 
> I originally wanted to write a story about Aubrey discovering Sylvain inside of her, but that didn't exactly go according to plan, so, instead, I wrote some good old Danbrey. Which seems to be all I'm capable of writing these days. But I digress.
> 
> It seems like the only stories involving systems are horror stories about DID systems, not normal stories with people who happen to share a body. I have never seen a love story about a system, until today. 
> 
> This was also originally going to be longer, but, well... We all have limitations. I wrote this between the hours of midnight and five in the morning, but it turned out better than I expected, and, you know, no sense fixin' what ain't broke, right?
> 
> Anyways, I'll let you get to the story now. I really hope you like it!

Aubrey feels bass pumping through her chest, and her entire body warms as she feels the beer in her hands hitting her system. She sees Hollis chatting with a pink-haired kid in these gigantic nerdy glasses and smiles, leaning over to punch them lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, Hollis. Cool party."

"Cool outfit," Hollis replies, giving Aubrey an exaggerated once-over. She just laughs, and they continue. "Keep a lookout for Jake, alright? Someone he wants you to meet."

"Alright, you got it." Aubrey grins as Hollis punches her arm, a bit harder than she punched theirs, and she twists on her toes, heading for the back porch. Jake's always out back showing off for somebody.

As she steps out the door, a wave of summer heat hits her already warm face, and she grins. Yeah, this is her time.

She sees Jake's unruly mop of blonde hair from the back– He's climbed up to sit on the railing of the porch, because of course he has. Next to him is somebody with much longer, not much neater blonde hair wearing a floral sundress. The sound of the door creaking open causes the sundress wearer's head to tilt to the side, and Jake immediately manages to almost vault over the railing to run up to Aubrey and throw his arms around her.

"Whoa! Hey to you too, Jake. Uh, Hollis said you wanted me to meet somebody?" Aubrey squeezes Jake's torso, then pulls back, glancing behind Jake to see that the other blonde has turned towards her. They're twisting a long lock of hair around one finger.

"Oh, fuck, I shouldn't have told them, of course they told you..." Jake looks at the ground and scratches the back of his head sheepishly for a moment before looking up at Aubrey. "So, yeah, this is Dani? She's, um... We grew up together."

"Y– Yeah." Dani licks her lips nervously, glancing between Jake and Aubrey. "I, uh... You look... Cool."

"Aw, thank you!" Aubrey strikes a pose, grinning at the blondes like a madwoman. She drops the pose and goes for a more natural smile after a few seconds. "Seriously, though, you too. That dress is so cute."

"Thanks. Um, I don't... Wear dresses a lot, it feels weird."

"Yeah, I get that. I can't wear skirts at all without jeans."

"Without... Jeans?" Dani looks lost.

"Yeah. I know it's unconventional, but I hate the feeling of the air on my thighs..." Aubrey shudders a bit. "Even leggings don't help."

Jake laughs. "You guys are already getting along, that's great! I have to go kill Hollis, are you girls gonna be good on your own?"

Dani smiles and nods quickly. Aubrey rolls her eyes a bit. "Don't kill them too hard, okay? I think we're gonna be great."

"Fine, fine..." Jake rolls his own eyes and walks into the house, leaving Aubrey alone with the prettiest girl she's ever seen.

"Um... Do you mind if we sit somewhere?" Dani looks up at Aubrey from behind a curtain of that blonde hair. "I worked pretty hard today."

"Oh, sure! Lead the way. Um, what kind of work?"

Dani starts down the stairs, and Aubrey follows her to a bench below a tree near the fence as she talks. "Oh, just gardening, landscaping, that kind of thing. Mama needed me to prune the wisteria, and I didn't feel like doing anything else, but I wanted to be busy, so I went and weeded the garden, mowed the lawn, and split some wood." Aubrey notices for the first time how toned Dani's arms are as she sits beside her.

"Um... Wow. That's a lot. I'm not very good with plants and stuff, actually, is that a lot?"

Dani laughs. It sounds like music. "I mean, it's not that much for me, but it's basically my job. I like doing it." She leans towards Aubrey with a conspiratorial smile. "I don't have to work out, either."

"I'll bet," Aubrey says. "So, do you have a favorite flower?"

"Yeah, um, does ragweed count? I've always loved it..."

Aubrey and Dani continue to pry into each others' minds for a full hour. In that hour, Aubrey feels a nagging headache start to form. Oh, no– Not here. Not now.

"Hey, um, Dani?"

"Yeah?"

"I actually have a curfew tonight, um, and it's getting pretty close..." Aubrey sighs. "Do you have a phone number or something I could get?"

"Um, no, I'm sorry... Why don't we just plan to meet up?" Dani licks her lips again, something Aubrey's noticed she does when she broaches new subjects.

"Um, sure! Are you free Thursday afternoon?"

"I'm not really allowed out in the afternoon, actually... I mean, I'm not really supposed to go out on my own at all, or with Jake, for that matter. But, um, Thursday night would work for me." Dani's face broadcasts a "do not ask" signal so loud even Jake would understand it.

"Right. How about ten o' clock? The park by the Boys' and Girls' Club?" Aubrey bites her own lip a bit. The idea of sneaking around with Dani...

But, no. It's not like Aubrey can date people, not with Sylvain butting in.

"Deal." Dani smiles like the sun, and Aubrey finds herself smiling back.

"Okay, um... I'll just go, then. It was... Really nice meeting you. I'll see you next week?"

"Yeah," Dani says, almost whispering. "I'll see you next week."


	2. closer

It's been three weeks since Aubrey met Dani. It's been three hours since Sylvain was drawn out by an article on global warming. And it's been three minutes since Sylvain realized that Aubrey couldn't come back out, at least for now.

They have a, not a date, a meeting, in fifteen minutes, and Syl finds herself in front of the bathroom mirror, wearing an orange dress that stops at her knees with a black denim jacket covered in patches and black combat boots. The jacket and boots aren't Syl's style, but it's getting cold out, and she doesn't want to look too unlike Aubrey.

Aubrey doesn't like to tell strangers about Sylvain, and Sylvain doesn't mind all that much. It spares them the explanation, and it spares them the stigma. But Sylvain doesn't exactly enjoy being called by the wrong name, either.

Her makeup is shaky– She usually has Aubrey's help– But Syl takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders. She starts towards the door of their apartment, then stops. Oh, right. She should probably take the note.

Sylvain rushes back to their room and pulls a binder off their bookshelf. After pulling out a piece of paper with a short explanation of selective mutism, she runs back out the door, almost sprinting to reach the bus stop in time.

Safely at the coffee shop they agreed to meet at this time, though, Syl is slow and peaceful in her movements. The soft music and the scent of coffee make her feel at ease as she uses a text-to-speech app on their phone to order a soy mocha latte, and the almost-familiar constellations of Dani's freckles are a welcome sight as she walks through the door.

The first thing Syl does (after smiling and waving enthusiastically) is hand Dani the folded paper.

"Oh! Um, okay." Dani sits down at a table near the window, one where they can see every passerby, and unfolds the paper. Syl watches nervously as her eyes scan the header, and she perks up. "Oh, you're selectively mute? I was just reading about that last week, actually, isn't that funny?" She smiles reassuringly at Sylvain, who smiles back. "I don't know sign language, is... Is that going to be a problem?"

Sylvain's smile turns into a grin as she hits a pre-programmed button on her phone. "I have an app to help me speak!"

"Oh! Alright, then, that takes care of that! So, um, how have you been?"

Sylvain has to think on that one, but she finally taps out a quick message. "I've been busy! Dr. Harris Bonkers was sick, and I had three gigs. A lot, for one week."

Dani looks concerned. "That sucks– About your bunny, not about your work. Unless having lots of work sucks, too?"

"No, it's fun! I like getting to show off, haha!"

Dani smiles at that, and Sylvain can't help but notice the way her eyes crinkle. She's really beautiful. "I'd love to see you perform sometime... But I doubt that Mama would let me." Her face falls again, and Sylvain frowns, then lights up as an idea occurs to her.

"I can show you right now! I have a video!"

"That would be awesome!" Dani lights up, too, and Sylvain grins, pulling up their photo app.

And then the opening notes of the Lady Flame's introductory music start to play, and Syl remembers that the music is a positive trigger for Aubrey.

Of course she couldn't have realized this at home. That wouldn't push the Earth's story along at all, would it?

Sylvain manages to make it through the seven minutes and thirty-six seconds of Aubrey's magic show before her headache gets the best of her and she reopens the text-to-speech app. "Sorry– Can I be right back?"

"Of course, Aubrey. That was great, by the way!"

"Thank you!" Sylvain smiles, but can tell it looks a bit strained.

She slips off to the bathroom of the coffee shop and grips the sides of a porcelain sink as her headache reaches its peak, then slowly dies back down. Aubrey's about to go back into the main room of the shop when she hears the door open and turns to see Dani step into the room.

"Um, Aubrey? Are you alright? You've been in here for a while, and I just wanted to check on you..."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, I just... I had a headache, but it's fading now."

"You got your voice back!" Dani smiles, almost like she's proud, and Aubrey feels her heart skip a beat, reaching up to fidget with her pendant.

"Yeah, I, uh... I did."

"Hey, um... Didn't you say you don't like wearing dresses without jeans when we met?" Dani furrows her brow, and Aubrey wonders why Dani even remembered that detail. Unless...

No.

"I don't. I don't know what I was thinking when I got dressed, of course I'd get stressed out with a dress like this on..." Aubrey's legs are starting to tingle already, and she's only been in front for a minute or two. "I guess I just wanted to look nice, you know?"

"Yeah," Dani says. "Um, Aubrey, you seemed really different out there tonight... Are you alright?"

Aubrey considers telling Dani the truth for a moment, but... "Yeah! Yeah, yeah, I'm doing great, just, uh... Long week, you know?"

"I know. You wanna get back out there?"

"That sounds great."

Dani holds the door for Aubrey, and they're laughing by the time they reach the table.


	3. slow and steady

"So you're telling me you've never celebrated Christmas?" Aubrey gazes at the lights twinkling in the park as the rest of the park's patrons gather around a gigantic Christmas tree.

"Not really! I mean, Jake makes everyone a present every year, but that's it. We don't really celebrate any holidays except for birthdays and Halloween."

"Uh... Why Halloween?"

"Barclay takes any excuse to dress up as Bigfoot."

There's a long silence before Aubrey says, "I see." She does not see.

"Um, anyways, I feel kinda guilty, I didn't get you anything." Dani scratches the back of her head.

"I mean, you didn't have to, I didn't expect you to, really. It's just, you know, a little thing... It's almost like a thank you gift, for being such a cool friend." Aubrey grins lopsidedly. "Come on, open it!"

"Alright, alright!" Dani laughs, opening the tiny box Aubrey handed her.

"I, um– It's a good luck charm. You know, so you'll be safe when you're sneaking out, and also when you're doing other things!"

Dani turns the little painted acorn over in her hands. "It's so cute, Aubrey, thank you! Um, can I..?" She holds her arms out as though she's going to hug Aubrey, but hesitates.

"Of course," Aubrey says, already putting her arms around Dani.

When they finally pull apart, Aubrey twists the cord of her pendant around one finger. "Um, Dani? I actually wanted to tell you something, is that alright?"

"Uh, yeah, of course– What's up?" Dani slips the acorn into her pocket as she listens.

"I, um, don't know how much you know about systems, but I know you read about psychology sometimes... What do you know about OSDD-1b?"

Dani's face is blank. "Um..."

"Okay, that checks out. Uh, do you know anything about DID?"

"Okay, that one I have... A little bit of knowledge on, yeah. That's the one with the multiple personalities, right?"

"Um, usually people call them alters now, but, yeah. So, one requirement for DID is that you have amnesia, right? OSDD-1b is sort of like DID, but without the amnesia, and I have that. When 'I' was mute, that was actually Sylvain– Syl, for short– covering for me. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I didn't really know what to say..."

"Don't worry, I understand not really wanting to tell me about it. I mean, I don't exactly broadcast my weird family to the world, you don't have to broadcast your weird, um, roommate to the world. Or are you the weird roommate?" Dani smiles awkwardly, and Aubrey laughs.

"I think Dr. Harris Bonkers is the weird roommate. But, thanks for being cool about it..."

"Yeah, of course. So, um. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"Sylvain is mute, but is that an all the time thing? And are you sometimes mute? How can I tell you apart?"

"Oh! Well, Sylvain is always mute, but I'm pretty rarely mute... I, um. Do go mute when I get really anxious, but I haven't been mute in years, so it probably won't come up. And you could always just ask. If it is me, though, um... I might be a little touchy, sorry, I... My voice is really important to me. The other kids made fun of me for my voice a lot when I was little, and I had to go to speech therapy, and now I'm, like, an adult, and I basically talk my way into every paycheck, and. It's, um." Aubrey realizes she's tearing up. "Sorry. Sorry, that's a lot to dump on you, I just..."

"Hey. Aubrey. It's okay. Okay?"

"Okay," Aubrey says, starting to smile, tears still welling in her eyes.

"We're gonna go watch that tree get lit up, alright?"

"Yeah."

And Dani pulls Aubrey to her feet, and they watch the tree, and the tree is beautiful.


	4. everybody talks

Aubrey straightens her T-shirt anxiously before she hears a quiet knock on her apartment door. She feels her heart racing as she opens the door to see an equally anxious-looking Dani outside.

"Dani! Welcome!"

"Hi! Aubrey!"

"Hi!"

Dani giggles, and Aubrey pulls her inside. "I've never been in an apartment before."

"I've never had a girl in my apartment before!"

"So, um, what do you want to–"

"You're about to watch Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse with me, and it's going to blow your fucking mind."

Dani blinks a bit, then shrugs. "Alright!"

Aubrey leads Dani to the couch, and they plop down next to each other. Dani is transfixed for the entire movie, of course, because who wouldn't be?

Once the movie is over, Dani hums a bit. "Seven out of ten." Before Aubrey can even gasp in shock, which she's absolutely gearing up to do, Dani laughs. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Best movie I ever saw, really. Not my style of music, but the music was really good..."

"Oh, what is your style of music?" Aubrey tilts her head.

"Um, usually just more... acoustic than that."

"Oh, fuck... I gotta play you some Something Better. Oh, and do you know Of Monsters and Men? Or The Neighborhood?"

Four albums later, Dani is laying with her head on Sylvain's lap. "So, when I was really little, me and Jake would play together at preschool. We both got bullied pretty bad, and one day, his dad, Barclay, met Mama. They had both kind of talked about homeschooling us kind of independently, but neither one really felt like they could act on it without a helper, and... Stuff just kind of snowballed. You know, one day we're being taken out of school, the next day we're living on twenty acres of self-sustainable farming just outside the city limits. Sometimes Mama brings us to her old church, the Unitarian Universalist church down on Summer Avenue, and sometimes we go to the library or the doctor, but Mama and Barclay don't really trust strangers, so we mostly just hang out at home..."

"Wow," Syl says through their phone. "That sounds kind of depressing, I think!"

"It's not, not really. It's mostly just... boring." Dani sits up. "I have much more fun with you guys. Sometimes I wish my family would just leave me alone for a few days so I could come stay with you for a while..."

"We used to want our parents to leave us alone," Sylvain says. There's a long pause as she types. "Our mom died when we were sixteen. There was a fire. Our dad blamed us, because he had caught us smoking a few weeks before. We haven't talked to him since. It sounds like your family is looking out for you. I wish they would look out for us, too."

Dani leans her head on Sylvain's shoulder. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just wish they'd look out for me in a different way, you know?"

"We do too," Sylvain says, smiling and blushing faintly.

"Um. Yeah." Syl feels Dani's face getting warm against her shoulder, and she smiles.

They sit like that for who-knows-how-long, occasionally exchanging a few sentences, until something on Aubrey's phone buzzes and she picks it up to check her notifications.

Her whole body tenses. "Holy shit, Dani– It's four in the morning– You need to get home!"

"Oh my god," Dani says, jolting her head up. "I, um– Oh my god. Okay, yeah. This was– This was great, Aubrey, I really loved hanging out with you guys, and your apartment is great–" As she speaks, Dani is walking towards the door of the apartment. Aubrey follows, worriedly tugging at her pendant.

"I really hope we can do it again soon, Dani, but you've gotta go–"

Dani takes a deep breath, standing on the other side of the door and looking at Aubrey intently. "I know, I just-"

Aubrey and Sylvain are united as they lean forward and press a single chaste kiss against Dani's lips.

They shut the door before she can respond, their heart pounding.


	5. forehead

"I haven't seen Jake in a few months, actually– Has Dani said anything about him lately?" Hollis sounds worried on the other end of the phone, which is never a good sign.

"Uh, no, I was asking because I haven't seen her in a few months, either. Do you think they're alright?" Aubrey bites her lower lip, scratching Dr. Harris Bonkers behind the ears with her free hand.

"Fuck. Okay, I'll ask the others to let me know if they see them around."

"Alright, yeah. Thanks. Bye, Hollis."

"Bye, Aubrey."

Aubrey sighs as she puts her phone down. What's she gonna do?

_ I liked her,  _ Sylvain pipes up from the back of their mind.  _ I hope she comes back. _

"Do you think we scared her off with that kiss?"

_ I... Hadn't considered that! _

"I cant believe we did that. I mean, there's no way we're her type, right? She's, like, a hippie, and we're... I don't even know what we are anymore. Punk? That doesn't matter. What matters is that we fucked up."

_ I wouldn't call it that! _

"Well, I would! We scared her off, of course we did, the nicest, prettiest, smartest girl on the planet, and we scared her off." Aubrey is shaking at this point, and Sylvain starts to try to push her way to front, but Aubrey holds steady.

_ Aubrey, breathe. You just need to breathe. _

"What if I don't want to, Syl? What then?"

_ I– _

Sylvain and Aubrey are cut short by a quick knock at the door. "Fuck," Aubrey mutters. She opens the door, expecting a salesperson, or one of the girl scouts she ordered cookies from.

Instead, she sees Dani, flanked on either side by Jake and a slightly wrinkled woman with long, gray hair.

"D- Dani, I– I'm sor–"

Before Aubrey can finish, Dani is kissing her. It's awkward. Dani has clearly never kissed anyone before, so she's more or less just shoving her mouth against Aubrey's and not moving at all, but Aubrey's heart pounds all the same.

Dani is kissing her.

Before Aubrey can start kissing her properly, Dani pulls away, slipping her hands into Aubrey's to hold them up between them. "Aubrey, I'm so sorry I didn't find a way to contact you, Mama caught me sneaking back in, and, well, I kind of got in a lot of trouble, but Mama said it was okay now as long as she could meet you, and– Aubrey, I think I love you, and Sylvain, too, and I don't ever want to be apart for that long again, okay?"

"That was... A lot, Dani. But, yeah. I don't want to be apart again either."

The two of them stand that way for what seems like an eternity before the gray haired woman clears her throat.

"Oh! Um..." Dani steps back, looking a little sheepish.

The woman holds out a hand for Aubrey to shake. "I'm Mama. I take care of these crazy kids, and, uh, I hear you've been hangin’ out with 'em all this time?"

"Y– Yes ma'am!" Aubrey shakes Mama's hand firmly, and Mama looks impressed.

"Alright, no ma'ams, but... You seem like a good kid. You, uh, wanna catch dinner?"

"Um... Yeah, in a minute, but, could I talk to your daughter for a second first?"

Mama sighs deeply, but simply nods, and Aubrey wordlessly pulls Dani into the apartment and kisses her properly, until Dani is practically falling apart.

When they reopen the door and step out, Aubrey and Sylvain are grinning like a madwoman. They've found home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really hope you guys liked this fic!! i wrote it all in one night, but im still really proud of it, and i really really really hope it made you guys as happy as it made me


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